Coronavirus
SEN. TIM SCOTT SOLVES ASIAN AMERICANS’ MODEL MINORITY PROBLEM
In the official GOP response to President Joe Biden’s Joint Speech to Congress last week, Scott offered up his childhood growing up with a single mother in a one-room apartment, and then looked America in the eye and said, unequivocally, “America is not a racist country.”
Asian Americans have long been hampered at times by the “Model Minority” stereotype. What’s that about? You know, how Asian Americans’ success has been used against them in that “look how good they are” way. It’s an excuse to ignore them. Here’s the thinking: as model minorities, we can all ignore them. They don’t need any government help, affirmative action, or any such handouts. They are model minorities, ergo, the subtext–Why can’t you all be like them!
But not this year!
Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) has made a gift to all Asian Americans.
We aren’t the model minority anymore.
He is.
In the official GOP response to President Joe Biden’s Joint Speech to Congress last week, Scott offered up his childhood growing up with a single mother in a one-room apartment, and then looked America in the eye and said, unequivocally, “America is not a racist country.”
He was taking away our crown of “model minority” and placing it on his own head. And tying it on with his own bootstraps.
Got to hand it to Scott. He likes to brag: “I get called Uncle Tom and the N-word by progressives, liberals.” But honestly, to say America is not a racist country is possibly a bigger lie than “Trump won last November.”
A Biden margin of victory of nearly 7 million voters debunks that lie.
It would take just one chapter of Asian American history—just the Filipino part– to refute Scott.
In an historical context, taking away Asian Americans’ “model minority” burden is quite significant.
Dropping the stereotype is important as America, after the Atlanta mass murders , finally begins to understand that we Asian Americans are beyond stereotypes. All together, Asian Americans are 23 million strong and diverse, from more than 20 countries. And we’re growing, destined to overtake the Hispanic population as the No.1 ethnic minority by 2060, according to the Pew analysis of Census data.
It’s especially important as the government looks to engage with all of its people in a new inclusive way.
It is the New America many of us in the ethnic media have been talking about for the last 20 years.
And that’s what Scott and the GOP are trying to negate that positive uplifting message of President Biden’s national address to a new America.
We’re getting a lot of history in the first hundred days of Joe Biden. In that speech, we got the precious first image of a U.S. president speaking to a joint session of Congress, flanked by a female speaker of the house, and a female vice president—a multi-racial woman of Black and Asian descent.
It’s the good history of an evolving democracy.
When Biden talked about “real opportunities in the lives of Americans,” he didn’t any of us leave us out.
“Black, white, Latino, Asian American, Native American,” Biden said, then he segued into a thank you. “Look, I also want to thank the United States Senate for voting 94-1 to pass the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act to protect Asian American Pacific Islanders.”
Seven seconds of applause. And then to top it off, he transitioned to a mention of the Equality Act to protect transgender youth.
These were the specific and necessary moments when many of us could see ourselves. They were signs that government hasn’t forgotten who it’s governing—all Americans, of all stripes, collars, and colors. Biden’s all-encompassing economic plan covering infrastructure and families would cost anywhere up to $4 trillion.
Worth it? It is if we still want to be an America that’s of the people, by the people and for the people.
BayCityNews
FDA Updates Approval of Pfizer Booster Vaccine for Children Under 5
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5. Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.
By Eli Walsh
Bay City News
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5.
Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.
As of December 2022, children age 4 and younger who have not been vaccinated receive the omicron variant-specific booster vaccine as the third dose in their primary vaccine series, following two doses of the original Pfizer vaccine.
However, children in that age range who completed their initial vaccination series before December 2022 only received three doses of the original Pfizer vaccine, and are less protected against more infectious variants of the virus as a result.
FDA officials updated the vaccine’s emergency use authorization Tuesday to allow those children who only received the original Pfizer COVID vaccine to receive one dose of the bivalent booster if it has been at least two months since they completed their initial series.
Other children under age 5 are not eligible for the booster, although everyone age 5 and up is eligible for a booster.
“Currently available data show that vaccination remains the best defense against severe disease, hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 across all age groups, and we encourage all eligible individuals to make sure that their vaccinations are up to date with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
Clinical data has found that both the original Pfizer vaccine and the booster vaccine that targets the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are safe for everyone aged 6 months and up and effective at preventing the worst outcomes of COVID infection, including serious illness and death.
COVID vaccines are available at primary care providers, retail pharmacies and some facilities operated by local health departments.
Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.
Bay Area
COVID-19 Response Grant Program
The City of Union City will be issuing another round of its COVID-19 Response Grant Program. The program has distributed approximately $620,000 in grant funds and forgivable loans to the community to respond to the impacts of COVID-19 and will distribute another $322,000 through this latest round of funding. The City will utilize federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and CARES Act funds.
The City of Union City will be issuing another round of its COVID-19 Response Grant Program. The program has distributed approximately $620,000 in grant funds and forgivable loans to the community to respond to the impacts of COVID-19 and will distribute another $322,000 through this latest round of funding. The City will utilize federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and CARES Act funds.
Grants are available through the City’s Road to Recovery Small Business Assistance Program and the Residential Rental Assistance Program. The City began accepting applications on March 6, 2023, at 9 a.m. and will begin reviewing applications (up to 50 applications for each grant opportunity) submitted on or before March 30, 2023, at 5 p.m. The program information and the online application are available on the City’s website:
https://www.unioncity.org/548/COVID-19-Response-Grant-Program
The City will be holding two informational/technical assistance meetings to support residents and businesses with their applications and respond to any questions. These meetings will be streamed via Zoom. See below for meeting information and Zoom meeting links.
Tuesday, March 14, 2023: 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
https://unioncity-org.zoom.us/j/89061570160
Wednesday, March 15, 2023: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Bay Area
State to End Indoor Mask Requirement in Health Care Facilities, Vaccine Requirement for Health Care Workers
California will draw down several COVID-19-related guidelines next month as the state shifts out of its emergency response to the pandemic, state health officials said Friday. Starting April 3, the state will no longer require the use of a mask in indoor areas that are deemed a high risk of transmission, including health care and long-term care facilities, homeless shelters and jails and prisons
By Eli Walsh
Bay City News
California will draw down several COVID-19-related guidelines next month as the state shifts out of its emergency response to the pandemic, state health officials said Friday.
Starting April 3, the state will no longer require the use of a mask in indoor areas that are deemed a high risk of transmission, including health care and long-term care facilities, homeless shelters and jails and prisons.
The state will also end its COVID vaccination requirement for health care workers and rescind health orders that required hospitals to accept patients from overcrowded facilities and that required the collection of an email address or phone number from a COVID vaccine recipient.
“We stand before Californians today with a humble message of thanks for taking the hard steps to help manage COVID-19, and with an ongoing commitment to be prepared for what comes next,” California Department of Public Health Director and state Public Health Officer Dr. Tomas Aragon said in a statement.
In addition to the changes on April 2, the state will update its isolation guidance on March 13 for those who test positive for COVID, allowing them to leave isolation after five days if their condition is improving and if they have not had a fever in at least 24 hours.
People who isolate after testing positive will no longer have to test negative for COVID before leaving isolation, according to the CDPH. The change is consistent with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The changes are part of the state’s drawdown of its emergency response infrastructure in recent weeks.
State-operated COVID testing and vaccination clinics have shuttered as those services shift to primary health care providers and retail pharmacies.
On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom also rescinded California’s COVID-19 state of emergency, which allowed local governments and the state to more efficiently coordinate public health programs and disperse emergency funding.
State public health officials continue to urge California residents to complete their initial COVID vaccination series if they have yet to do so and, if eligible, receive a booster vaccine dose to reduce the chance of becoming seriously ill or dying due to the virus.
As of March 2, 88.2 million COVID vaccine doses have been administered statewide. Roughly 73 percent of state residents have completed their initial vaccination series.
“Our communities did a lot of the hard work by getting vaccinated and boosted, staying home and testing when sick, requesting treatments when positive, and masking to slow the spread,” Aragon said. “With these critical actions, and a lot of patience and persistence, we have now reached a point where we can update some of the COVID-19 guidance to continue to balance prevention and adapting to living with COVID-19.”
Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.
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EliWalsh2132p03/03/23
CONTACT: CDPH media CDPHpress@cdph.ca.gov
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: An image related to this story can be obtained from the following Bay City News Service web link: https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20221209-VACCINATION-01.JPG
Caption: The CVS Drugstore on Mountain Blvd. in Oakland, Calif on Dec 8, 2022 offers vaccination and COVID test kits to customers. (Anna Moseidjord/Bay City News)
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